Synopses & Reviews
"The Roaring Twenties" is the only decade in American history with a widely applied nickname, and our collective fascination with this era continues. But how did this surge of innovation and cultural milestones emerge out of the ashes of The Great War? No one has yet written a book about the decade's beginning.
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"Burns delivers history with flair and vividness." The Wall Street Journal
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"A work of genuine historical research, colorful personality, intellectual sophistication, heft, and durable interest." Vanity Fair
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"Extremely readable.
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"Extremely readable.
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"Extremely readable.
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"In a fascinating work about a remarkable year, former NBC News correspondent Burns shows us what put the roar in the Roaring 20s. Burns follows it all with verve. In this delightfully readable book, the author expertly shows how those affected by the Great War linked together, nourished each other and really did change the world." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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"Extremely readable.
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"Extremely readable.
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"Extremely readable.
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"A thorough tour of the upheavals and events of the year when 'the Roaring Twenties first began to roar.' An entertaining and informative look at a pivotal period. Burns makes it possible to recognize the century to come in this intimate study of a single year, and the result is downright fascinating." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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"Extremely readable.
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"Burns proves that a year can hold a readers attention and then some, with the year bringing on the fiasco that was Prohibition, jazz, the beginning and end of Ponzis great scheme, and so much more.
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"Extremely readable.
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"A roaring read, a thorough and thoughtful appraisal of a single year
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"Lively. Burns convincingly dispels a number of popular beliefs, including the idea that the 'ignoble experiment' of Prohibition was solely responsible for the birth of organized crime in America. He also finds parallels with many issues and 'civil wrongs' still running through our landscape: terrorism, immigration, women's rights, political corruption, and tabloid culture." The New York Times Book Review
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"Burns's territory stretches far and wide across the realms of politics, Prohibition, pop culture and more: communists, suffragettes, Teapot Dome, birth control, the radio. He skillfully builds portraits of such figures as con artist Charles Ponzi, Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and crusading U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. He brings to light events that have probably received scarce attention in standard school curricula. An eminently readable, informative book." The Washington Post
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"In picking the one that set off the fabled Roaring Twenties, former NBC correspondent and 'Fox News Watch' host Eric Burns has really hit the mother lode. Like all good writers, though, Burns does not allow the confines of his chosen year to be a straitjacket. Burns shines a valuable light on the beginnings of domestic terrorism in the United States, a too little remembered chapter in our history, which continues to resonate." The Washingtonian
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"Covers one of the most dynamic periods of American history. A fine review of the new kinds of power emerging among women and minorities of the times, and the concurrent events that made the 1920s so significant." Midwest Book Review
Synopsis
One of the most dynamic eras in American history--the 1920s--began with this watershed year that would set the tone for the century to follow.
About the Author
Eric Burns is a former correspondent for NBC News and the TODAY Show. For ten years he was the host of the top-rated "Fox News Watch," and he has won an Emmy for media criticism. He is the author of